The Break In
by Morrigan428
Summary: OOC, AU fic. The group breaks into a house to escape a harsh winter storm and begin living there, hiding from the people who own the house.
1. The Break In, Chp 1

The Break In

DISCLAIMER: I don't own GW. Don't sue me.

PAIRINGS:3+OC, 4+OC

PG-R WARNING: For nudity and it effects on Quatre. However there 

isn't any sex in this fic.

OTHER WARNINGS: Angst, humor, (well at least I think some parts are 

amusing), original characters, non-yaoi, OOC, AU, and criminal 

activities.

ARCHIVE: Sure!

AUTHOR'S NOTE: All original characters are mine, please do not use them w/o my permission. The citrus nature in this fic is unusual, so I have no idea how to label it. Though I do not believe in relationships starting fast, falling in love at first sight and the relationship lasting if it starts fast, but for times sake that is what happens in this fic. I do not condone what the group does in this fic so please young ones don't think of this as advice. If you need help please call the appropriate numbers. There are many people who can help.

THE BREAK IN

A.C.197 DECEMBER 15TH

It was cold. It seemed cold was all the 5 boys had ever known. An endless winter. A life on the streets. Life had tossed them around. Beat them starved them. Even mother nature did. Right now, as they finally stopped trudging along, a thick mass of snow was mounting and making life unbearable. The weather was even becoming deadly. Below zero temperatures mixed with snow and ice was being spilled out as testament of her fury, and the boys were right in it's heart.

None of the 5 had a home to go to. All but one were orphans with out any known family. The one who had family was the newest addition to the group, Quatre. He might as well not have any family. They had ignored him and never made him feel that home was a home. Since he had run away and later found out he had been disowned, he didn't have a home. At least in his and his family's eyes.

The next to oldest in the group, the one who knew these streets best, Duo, knew different. Everywhere was home now to all 5 of them. Just not a very nice or warm home. Yet he knew they could fix that problem anytime. Because they were children from the streets, all they had to do was knock on someone's door and if they wanted them THAT was their home, their family. Forever. That was the beauty of their century. No need for adoption papers or courts anymore. If someone was willing to provide for you THEY were your family. However, the thought scared Duo to death. After all, who knew what kind of people lived behind those closed doors. Besides, who would want to take in a bunch of boys at the age of 17? People wanted babies and little kids, not teenagers. Still this was the worst winter he'd ever known. Every night the temperatures would delve even more into the below zeros. Snow had fallen everyday now for at least a week. In fact the snow falling now kept getting worse. The large flakes made seeing in the distance practically impossible. Horrid winds kept them struggling to stay on their feet, and made each flake seem like an icy knife where ever it touched their skin. 

"We have to find shelter," Heero said breaking into Duo's thoughts.

"Sure. We can sleep under the bridge again," Duo replied turning to head in the bridge's direction only to stop when no one followed and all had to watch Quatre have one of his coughing fits, followed quickly by Trowa.

Both boys were sick. Trowa was worse off though. He had not said anything to anyone, but for the last couple days he had been coughing up blood.

"You okay?" Wufei asked patting Trowa's back when he fell to the ground with the force of his convulsions. He lied by nodding his head.

"Duo, we can't. We HAVE to find someplace WARM," Wufei said walking up to Duo and beginning to whisper. "Besides, we both know that those two are sick. Really sick."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Duo asked in a mixture of concern and anger. He knew that Wufei knew the law as well as all the others. Was he suggesting...?

Heero made his way over to them and answered for him by nodding in the direction of the muted vision of a white house across the way. "We can break in at night fall and leave before dawn. That way we won't bother anyone. I've been watching the family who lives there for about a month now. The parents work while the daughter is alone at night. Besides it's not like we'll be stealing anything."

"Yuy! Are you crazy?!" Duo had to keep himself from screaming, and dropped his voice to a hush as the snow and cold air hurt his lungs. "Breaking and entering is a criminal offense! We can't just..."

"What is more criminal Duo? Breaking into someone's house as a last resort to live, or LETTING your friends die? We both know unless we wanna try and be taken in by a household, which is pointless at our age, THIS is our only chance to live through this. The closest shelter is on the other side of town. By the time we would get there Quatre and Trowa's condition could be worse, or all of us could die from hypothermia." He pointed at the house. "All we want from them is the warmth of their home and the floor they walk on to be our beds."

Duo bit his lip as he exchanged a glance with Wufei. "Your right. Okay, but I still don't like it."

They walked back over to the vague forms of the other two who were bravely trying to keep their teeth from chattering as their faces were burnt and wet even more form the cold and it's forces.

"We have a plan," Heero said.

"YOU have a plan. I'm just a follower," Duo retorted, folding his arms over his chest.

"Well, what is it?" Quatre asked covering his mouth as he began to cough.

"That house over there," Heero pointed to the blurry object across the street, "we're gonna break in to it."

"WHAT?" Quatre cried.

"Shut up and listen." Heero snapped uncharacteristically at the blond making him shrink back. "Non of us really think we have a chance to become someone's kid if we just knock on doors. Shelters are out of the question because they're too far away. We can't stay out here. The temperature keeps dropping every minute and this snow is getting worse," Heero explained.

"But why THAT house in particular?" Trowa asked.

"Because it's the only one with a free window of time when we can break-in and stay. There's an hour between when the girl comes home and the parents leave for work overnight. We can break-in when no one is home, wait until the girl goes to bed and come out and sleep on the floors."

"So when is the appointed time?" Trowa inquired.

"In two hours."


	2. The Break In, Chp 2

THE BREAK IN CHAPTER 2

"Great plan Yuy! Now if we can just get in!" Duo complained as he watched Heero vainly attempt to pick the lock. The 5 were standing on the back porch in snow and winds making what had fallen earlier seem like nothing compared to now. Mother nature had decided to unleash her full wrath and anyone who got in her way would die under her knife-like tread. "Hurry up will ya! I'm freezing here and my pockets 

are collecting snow."

"Look I may be a genius, but I never said I could pick a lock," Heero hissed.

"Oh Please!" Quatre moaned fed up with standing around being nearly being knocked over by winds and icy snow. He stepped forward, and shoved Heero out of the way, taking the wire he was picking the lock with in his hand. He bent down and probed the lock, and only seconds later they heard the lock click open.

"Where'd you learn how to do that?" Duo asked when Quatre stood up.

Quatre gave him an embarrassed grin. "I sorta had an obsession when I was 13 of picking the locks on my sisters diaries and reading them."

Duo's eyes got wide as Wufei chuckled, Heero smirked, and a twitch on Trowa's lips passed.

"Shall we?" Quatre said gesturing to the back door. Heero nodded and ventured forth, opening the door and going inside, engulfed in a blackness. The others exchanged looks and followed.

Wufei was the last in and absently shut the door loudly making all jump, stop in their tracks and turn around shushing him. He opened his arms in an innocent gesture and followed the parade through the kitchen to the dining room as snow began to slide off in mass chunks from their clothes, shoes and even skin. As if entering a haunted house, the wind howled outside blowing snow and ice on the windows. Strange creaks were heard within as branches tapped on the window sills, and the thumping of their feet echoed.

"This place gives me the creeps," Wufei said behind them.

After that comment silence permeated the room until Duo said, "I have one question." He continued lurking behind Heero as he spoke.

"What?" Heero asked somewhere in front of him in the dark.

"If there's no one here, why are we prowling around like a bunch of burglars?"

"Because we are a bunch of burglars!" Quatre called somewhere behind him all too loudly.

"HUSH!" Wufei hissed.

"Duo's right I think we can at least calm down. Unless someone IS here," Trowa commented.

"Well, how do you suggest we find out? Search each room, then if someone is in there look shocked and say 'Oops wrong house'?" Wufei sarcastically asked.

"Well, we could..." Trowa began when he stepped on something that let out a loud horrible scream. 

All yelped with it and stopped in their tracks -tense and ready to flee if something jumped out to get them. The thing promptly ran off into another part of the house.

Realizing what it was and that they were quite alone in the house, Duo replied," Stepping on a cat's tail. I guess that's one way to find out, because if someone was here and didn't know we were, they surely know it now."

"Well, I suppose we should start looking for a hiding place," Heero said looking in both directions of the house only to be greeted with muted shapes in the darkness.

"And where to sleep," Trowa chimed in.

Trowa felt nauseous and could feel another coughing fit coming on, and suddenly dizzy. He stopped walking, grabbing hold of something to steady him. He felt sick, yet as he got warmer, he found he could breathe easier. Finally the coughing fit unleashed itself, and in violent convulsions he started falling to his knees. His uncontrolled coughing made his chest and throat hurt and his stomach twist into knots. He could suddenly taste the metallic taste of blood in his mouth and despite his effort to keep it within he felt it release.

"Trowa!" He heard Quatre cry and could feel warm hands on his shoulders. He looked up into the blonde's worried face. "My God Trowa, it's blood."

Trowa vaguely heard those words before all went black and he lost consciousness.

~~~*~~~

"God, I hate the cold!" Vanda grumbled as she fumbled with the keys to unlock the door. "Oh come on! I'm freezing here."

She was nearly knocked of balance by a gust of wind and a spray of snow that clung to her upon touch. Each tiny flake feeling like a needle on her skin. Finally the her persistence paid off and she soon found herself engulfed in the warmth of her house. She looked around, as she always did, thumbing for light switches and keeping an eye out for signs of intruders. She hated being alone at night. Especially on nights when she was too exhausted to be alert, in short like she was tonight. Seeing all was in order as she turned lights on and removed her boots, scarf, gloves and coat, she made her way into the kitchen.

~~~*~~~

"SHHH! I think she is finally coming home," Heero called to the others from the upstairs bathroom.

"Do you think it was a good idea to put Trowa in that bed, in what is probably HER room?" Wufei inquired suddenly worried.

"We had no choice. He needs to be kept warm. Now more than ever. Quiet! She's coming upstairs!"

~~~*~~~

She was too tired to feed her hungry stomach. The act of eating itself seemed tiresome to her. So, she turned out all the lights and went upstairs. She rounded a corner, and in the darkness saw a shadow of something pass by out of the corner of her eye in the hallway. Instincts suddenly taking over, she went on all alert.

She jumped and heaved a sigh of relief as the form came to her and let out a mewing sound. Feeling silly she picked the cat up. "I do wish you'd stop lurking around like that, Duchess. You had me scared to death."

Of course it didn't help that the hallway light was burned out, and they were out of light bulbs. Shaking her head she made her way to her room.

"I need to take a shower..." she muttered to herself pulling her hair out of it's clasp, opening the door.


	3. The Break In, Chp 3

THE BREAK IN CHAPTER 3

Trowa stared up at the ceiling of a very feminine but warm room. He felt blissfully heated under piles of blankets...and he couldn't remember the last time he had slept in a bed. It was so soft. He also couldn't remember the last time he had felt so weak. Now that he was down all the malnourished weakness, all the aching limbs, all the sickness enveloped him reminding him just how tired and weak his body really was.

Because he knew his clothes reeked with odor he forced enough strength within himself to strip down to his underwear and upon realizing how long it had been since he had a bath, his own body odor sickened him even more. He had been in such a desperate state to rid himself of it that he had scuffed around in the room until he came to bottles of perfume. Not caring that it was definitely a woman's scent he sprayed himself massively with it. He wanted to shower SO MUCH, but knew he couldn't. It would be too noticeable. But the cleanness around him made him feel even more dirty.

The scent of the perfume was still heavy on him when he heard a female voice saying some thing and the door opening. In a rushed act he pulled the blankets over his head and tried in vain to make the lump his body made under the blankets as small as possible. He heard a thump, a mewing sound, and two bodies situate themselves on the bed. Peeking out from under the blankets, he eyed his unknown hostess and the cat curled around her.

Her hair was brown, she was thin, and wearing the color green. His eyes went wide when he realized she was taking off her socks and starting to unbutton her shirt. He went into alarm when she suddenly started to seem to look around her perplexed.

"Perfume... I don't remember putting any on"

Trowa bit his lip and held in a whimper when she reached to turn on her lamp. She turned the switch, there was a flash, a popping sound then darkness again.

"You gotta be kidding me! THIS light too!" She sniffed the air. "Maybe mom had to use it."

He exhaled slowly, relieved, and came out of hiding as she walked out of the room.

~~~*~~~

"My God! She's coming back! We gotta get out of here!" Duo exclaimed when he saw her come out of the room and pause at a hallway cupboard.

Wufei looked and made a beeline for the nearest open door to another room followed by everyone except Quatre. Quatre's shirt had gotten caught on the knob and he found himself having to hide behind the door as the girl came in.

With a bundle of towels and a washcloth in her arms that she had gotten out of the hallway cupboard, she closed the door and locked it, not noticing him there. Quatre was on the verge of freaking out. All she had to do now was turn around. He watched as she laid the towels down then turned on the water to the tub. His eyes widened when he saw her begin to strip. He had never had much of a chance to watch anything but the news on TV, and despite the fact that he had numerous sisters, it was the first time he had ever seen a naked woman. He felt incredibly terrible for watching, but horribly turned on by this little strip show he was watching. After all, she wasn't bad to look at. In fact, she was rather pretty.

He held in a yelp when in her flinging clothes about, her bra landed right smack in his hands. He let it drop to the floor as silently as possible. He wanted to cover his eyes, and also keep watching. In fact, he did cover his eyes but found himself peeking out at her from between his fingers. He watched as she daintily turned on the shower head and stepped inside, sliding the panel door behind her. Quatre took the opportunity to get out while he could. Gently, he quickly turned the knob, jumping when the lock popped off. He glanced at the figure behind the muted glass, opened the door, and popped the lock back on and quickly shut the door.

Vanda paused from washing her hair as she heard a popping noise and a sudden draft come into the bathroom. She walked to the end of one of the panel doors and slid it open just enough to peer out. Her brow creased. There was no reason for it. No one there to her relief. No Norman Bates episode waiting to happen.

"Weird..." She shrugged and slid the door back and rinsed the suds out of her hair.

~~~*~~~

"Man! What happened to you?" Duo asked when a red faced Quatre ran into the room they were taking refuge in.

Quatre didn't answer, his gaze just drifted back to the bathroom door. Perplexed, they all looked back at it with him.

"Okkkkaaay," Duo let out not getting it.

Wufei didn't get it either until he noticed a difference in a certain area of Quatre's jeans.

"I take it you got to see a strip show without going in to a bar," Wufei said with a smirk.

Quatre turned to stare at him as his blush deepened.

"Don't worry about it. So you liked what you saw. No big deal," Wufei continued shrugging it off. "I mean it's only natural. Besides you had no choice but to watch. What straight guy could keep himself from not watching that sort of display without getting a little heated up."

"I shouldn't have watched."

"You had to watch to know if you'd be seen or not, and to know when you could get out of there," Heero paused, then a wicked grin came to his face. "It's the first time you've ever seen a naked woman isn't it?"

Quatre dug his foot into the carpet as he nodded.

"If we can please be done with talking about Quatre's lack of ah, sightseeing, can we please discuss how we're gonna get Trowa out of that girl's room, before she goes in there and freaks out when she finds him in her bed?" Duo exclaimed.

"We aren't gonna do anything about Trowa. He needs to stay where he is. The light to her room is burned out otherwise we would surely see the light coming through this vent." He kicked at the vent slightly. "She looked exhausted and will probably go to bed and fall asleep in no time, not noticing any details. I'm sure Trowa will figure out a way of keeping himself from being seen. And..." Heero stopped and ducked out of the light of the moonlit hallway when the door to the bathroom opened and the girl slipped out into the hall. 

Out of no where the cat jumped out of the shadows. "DUCHESS!"

The girl picked the cat up when she recovered from her fright. But the cat literally flew out of her hands into the nearby room scratching her in the process. The cat screeched twice as she howled in pain. She dropped her clothes and ran back into the bathroom closing the door.

~~~*~~~~

From where he sat on the floor, Quatre all but screamed when the cat landed in his arms and fussed with a growl and a hiss. In shock and sudden fright he flung the cat away from him. The cat screeched in mid air, landing right on Heero's chest by the claws. Clinging to him like a tree the cat's claws dug deeper and deeper into his skin under his cleavage. Tears came to his eyes as he bit down the scream of agony it was causing him.

When they heard her run back into the bathroom cursing and shutting the door behind her, Heero tore the feline from him and bounded up to Quatre in a fury. Grabbing him by his shirt he lifted him out of his seated position on the floor and flung him against the wall.

In an angry and dangerous voice he said, "Don't ever throw a cat on me again, understand?"

Quatre nodded. They went back into hiding when she came out again.

"I don't know what has gotten into her..." Vanda muttered to herself walking into her room.

Bumping her hip on the corner of the doorframe as she entered she cursed , then found her way to her bed inside the blackened room. Sitting down on her bed she sighed and unwrapped the towel from her hair then the other from around her body. She found her way to her dresser and pulled out her nightgown and proper underthings and went back to the bed. Slipping the clothes on, she fumbled for the towel to dry her hair and dried it as best as she could. She'd have to cob it out in the morning. It was too dark to do much of anything else.

Throwing the towels in the direction of her laundry basket, she sighed again, got up and shut the door to her bedroom, went back to her bed and slipped beneath the covers of her most welcomed bed. She found the sheets wonderfully warm, but seeping with that perfume. However she didn't care. The perfume was to her liking and she LOVED how warm the bed was. Before she knew it she was drifting off to sleep. But just before sleep overcame her she was sure she felt something shift beside her. She could swear someone's arm had flung around her, and she was certain a warm body scented with that perfume was close to hers. Yet, she welcomed it. She never felt so warm, safe or .... home. She deemed it the nonsense of a person half between dreams and reality, for she knew those were the dreams that always seemed more real than all others.

~~~*~~~

"Well, I hope it'll be better tomorrow. I don't think I could take another night like this," Quatre commented.

"What's the matter? That chick upstairs still got you all worked up?" Wufei teased.

"No." Quatre said forcefully, punching the pillow to the couch. But he lied. She did still have him worked up. He wasn't used to the alien feelings of arousal. Even with all the things he'd read...

"Hey Quatre?" Duo's voice came from the floor.

"Yeah?"

"Your sister's diaries... did they have anything GOOD in them?"

Quatre blushed. "Let's just say I never had to take sex ed thanks to them."

He heard a chuckle."You know I can't figure out how a guy that can stand to read all the juicy parts of his sisters diaries without being ashamed of it ends up ashamed when he watches a woman get naked the first time, "Duo said in a whisper.

"Reading is one thing, seeing is another. Besides I think they knew I was doing it anyway."

Duo chuckled again.

"Quatre?" came Heero's voice.

"Hmmm?"

"Before you left you didn't by chance bring any of your sisters diaries with you, did you?"


	4. The Break In, Chp 4

THE BREAK IN CHAPTER 4

Fortunately, their getting out before dawn worked out better. That night had also been one of the worst in the their history of winters for snow and storms. Snow was piled high, nearly up to their thighs. They knew they'd have to go back that night. They couldn't stay out in the current conditions either. They could hang out in grocery stores and libraries, and the like until it was time. The temperatures were still in the zeros, so because of the winds and the amount of snow and temperatures that the girl would still be there. They also knew her parents wouldn't be for the same reasons. They formulated a plan to get in that night and were successful.

None of them had realized how much they yearned for a home until then. A real home. A warm place to come to. As the weeks passed things got easier for them. To evade the girl, to let sleep find them, and the cat got used to them. Getting in and out on time did as well, as the conditions outside became more bearable when the snow started to melt. That house was starting to feel like a home to them. They had even gotten brave enough to wash at the sink in the bath, and raid the fridge for little ,tiny morsels of food that they didn't think would be missed.

But because the family was home for several days during Christmas and New Years, they had to sleep out in the cold and the snow. On those long nights all thoughts would turn to that house and the girl inside it that in a sense they felt responsible for, to protect even though they themselves were invaders. They had learned her moods, habits, name and age. It really unnerved them when she had a friend over. A friend that Quatre found himself infatuated with. She had a shy charm and had the air he was told his mother had. But while Quatre became infatuated with the friend, Trowa seemed entranced by the girl Vanda herself. He longed for the night which was when he could hold her and for that brief time call her his. Maybe not in the truest sense, but it seemed strange to them. It was the first time Trowa had ever seemed to openly long for ANYONE or ANYTHING.

Sometimes he wished she'd wake up just so he could hear her say something directly to him, not just listen to the bits and pieces she would say out loud to herself. In fact, in some ways they ALL wished she would. She could do nothing more than have them arrested, or let them stay- let them be free to wash and eat.

Perhaps it was inevitable what happened a month later. They all knew it would eventually. Perhaps the circumstances it happened in was fated. They had expected screaming, shouting- not what happened.

All but Trowa had awakened at the usual time that morning, but found when they looked outside endless fields of white. Ice covering EVERYTHING and an extremely low visibility factor storm raged on outside.

"We can't go out in that," Duo said looking on distastefully.

"We'll die out there if we do. Your right Duo, we can't," Heero replied.

Quatre looked on as well. "What about Trowa? I mean I'm better now, but he's still real sick. We can hide easily but he can't. He's even too weak to wake up when we do and leave hurriedly. I've had to help him out of the bed the last couple days. What are we going to do?"

Heero looked out the window worried as a spray of snow hit the window- a threat to any fool who dared venture out in it. "That's a good question. What ARE we going to do?"

~~~*~~~

Vanda awoke to an unusual warmth. It was a warmth she had come to get used to at night, but was always gone before now. She laid still for a moment, then turned over on her back and stretched then suddenly stopped with a jolt. She felt a weight of something around her. Eyes wide she looked down in the direction of the weight. There was an arm around her. She turned her wide eyed gaze to her side and gasped in a mixture of fear and shock. Sleeping beside her was a man. Well not really a man, a boy to be exact. Not much older than herself she guessed. Almost a man. She sat up and delicately slid out between the covers bringing a hand to her mouth. She was scared, angry-shocked.

She watched him rustle a little in the blankets then settle down. She began to reach out to touch him but stopped. She saw how pale he was. The dark circles under his eyes. How starvingly thin his handsome face seemed and the muscular arms as well. Suddenly, all fear, shock and anger melted away. He was sick. She could tell. Also by the hollows in his face and how his boney frame was undernourished. She knew she should wake him. Tell him to leave. She should be screaming and yelling. Calling the police. But something in her was preventing her from those actions. Something was telling her to accept him. To leave him be.

She went about her room casting wary glances at the form in her bed. She allowed herself the liberty in thought by thinking it was a beautiful form in her bed. He was sweating and twisting and turning about in a restless sleep. At some point she had looked out the window and saw the storm that raged on. There was no way ANYTHING human could survive in THAT. That made up her mind on one point. This guy was staying for the time being.

In the corner on his side of the bed she spotted some unfamiliar clothing. Carefully, she walked over and picked up the garments for examination. The coat, the shirt, the jeans- all of it was old and worn out. This kid obviously hadn't a home. He was a guy from the streets. A guy up for the grabs to ANY family who'd take him. But what in heaven's name brought him here?

She shook her head and gathered up her robe, laying his clothes on the bed. She slipped the robe on and watched him some more. He seemed cold, yet he was sweating. He was mumbling something in his sleep. 'This guy needs help.' She looked at the face. 'And love. Someone needs to care about him or he'll die.' She didn't know how she knew it, but she did. She gathered up his clothes again and quietly left the room. She should wash them if he was going to be staying. As she walked in to the hall she thought she heard voices. Rounding the corner, she looked inside a guest room. For some reason it didn't surprise her to find 4 other boys there.

"What about Trowa?" she heard the blond boy ask them.

She listened carefully making assumptions about them. She only hoped she was right. All of them needed a family. 'Plus they'd be good for this household too. The war had taken so many lives. So many...'

Padding away silently after a few minutes to go downstairs she decided 3 things: 1.to call into work to find out if they had enough sense to cancel and if not to call off, 2.Cook these guys some breakfast, 3.Call an ambulance. Somehow she knew that the one called Trowa needed medical care. Immediate medical care.

She heard one of them shout," Oh my God! She's seen us!" and heard them run to the stairway. She looked up and saw 4 boys gaping at her with big eyes filled with fear.

"Go wash up. I'll cook you some breakfast. There's no way ANY of you are going out in that storm." She indicated outside.

"What about our friend? He needs help," the one with the braid said.

"I know, and I'll get him some. Now go wash up."


	5. The Break In, Conclusion

THE BREAK IN CHAPTER 5

Trowa awoke to bright lights and the uncomfortable feeling of things being poked into him and a horrible bed. However, physically healthwise, he felt remarkably better. But where was he? As his eyes came into focus, he realized he was in a hospital room and bed. How?

"You needed help, Trowa. More than I could give. Don't be scared. You'll be fine. Your fever has broken," he heard a familiar voice say, but why was it addressing him?

He looked around to see Vanda at his side with the 4 other guys and her... parents? He stared at them. They were cleaned and fitted with new clothes and looked considerably more healthy looking. "What's going on?" She smiled at him then turned to her parents.

"I think he needs some time alone with the guys to sort things out."

They promptly left. As soon as the door shut behind them he opened his mouth to say something, but only managed the word, "How?"

"It's sorta funny really. She sort of woke up before she usually does, saw you, then us, and for some reason decided to take us in," Duo said in a strange casual manner.

"Her parents needed more convincing though," Quatre said clearly fuming about something.

Trowa looked back and forth noticing the strange grins on their faces.

"She stuffed him in a closet when her parents came home unexpectedly. She thought they wouldn't be home for a couple days because of the weather."

"Why did she stuff him in a closet though?" Trowa managed weakly.

"She thought that if her parents saw me the way I was... dressed at the time that they'd get the wrong idea," Quatre said bitterly.

"Huh?"

"She was fitting me for new clothes at the time okay? And..."

"I get the picture. So how did they find you guys?" Trowa asked raising an eyebrow.

"Well we freaked out when they came in and we were in her room at the time and we all went into hiding when she threw him in a closet, then her mother came back in after they left her room the first time, and because we thought she wasn't coming back we came out of hiding. Anyway, when she came in she saw the two in what looked like an embrace..."

"The first embrace I've ever had that called for measuring tape!" Quatre whined.

It caused a smirk from the other 4. "Anyway when all was explained, eventually she told them that she had you brought here. And well, we have a NEW home now," Duo explained in a far off voice.

Trowa looked perplexed. Surely, they weren't going to take them all in?

"Yeah, we know what your thinking, but we're no longer 'street trash' as some called us. We've got a home now," Heero said with a slight smile.

"And Quatre has a girlfriend!" Duo replied, followed by all of them going " woo-hoo-hoo" and Quatre telling them to shut up as his face turned red.

Trowa felt a slight ache in his heart. "V-vanda?"

"No, Vanda's friend Cherie..."

"Okay guys! Visiting hours are over. He needs his rest. Come on!" came a nurse's voice.

They looked dejected for a moment then said their good byes. After he was finally left alone Trowa pondered why they'd take them all in. One or two of the guys he could see. But all 5? Why?

~~~*~~~

Trowa watched as Vanda slipped under the blankets and began to regard him. Her parents figured that if he'd been sharing a bed with her all this time they might as well continue to until they could buy him his own. She smiled at him and turned out the light. He had over the past weeks come to talk to her more than he had ever talked to anyone in his life. He watched as if spellbound. As if she wasn't real.

"So did you like it?" she asked suddenly as she stared at the ceiling.

"Like what?" Trowa asked confused.

She looked at him with a sly smile. "Did you like watching me undress and redress before and after my showers and stuff every night?"

Trowa couldn't help but blush. 

"Well, did you?" she persisted. "Come on! Quatre already 'fessed up! Your turn... did you like it? If you didn't, I understand..." she said her final statement with a hint of melancholy.

Trowa considered his answer. "Well, I didn't HATE it." He looked into her eyes and was forced to let out an embarrassed giggle. "Okay, I liked it... A LOT."

She gave him a smug smile."Good."

Trowa and she laid in silence until the question that had remained persistent in his mind had to finally be answered. "Why did your family take us ALL in? All 5 of us?"

She gave him a hurt glance, then stared at the ceiling as he spoke. "All 5 of you needed a home. A better life..."

"I mean the deeper reason," Trowa ventured.

She laid silent for so long that he thought she'd grown cross or had fallen asleep. "In the wars a couple years ago I had 2 older brothers. Both died in battle. And once..." she stopped when she choked on a sudden lump in her throat. "... once we had seen a child being forced to watch his parents die in front of him..." She took a few deep breaths. "The officer who did it asked us if we wanted him, when we hesitated with our answer he murdered the child too." She finally stopped trying not to cry but when the tears started, her speech stopped.

"I understand. I too watched... people die." Trowa said caught up in his own memories.

She looked over at him and with a sigh turned over and snuggled close to him, burying her face in his chest. Absently, he stroked her soft hair.

"You know this is what I missed most when you were in the hospital..." she said in gasps.

"What?"

She spoke shyly, just barely above a whisper. "Being held by you. Being warm... safe... home," she said the last word in a voice he barely heard.

"I know, it was strangely so cold without you. I couldn't sleep," Trowa replied in an honesty he knew she'd never believe. "Being warm..." he looked around him and then down at the girl falling asleep in his arms, "and home."

He pulled her close as he glanced up and over her out the window. Snow had begun to fall again. Only for the first time in the whole of the winter they had witnessed, with a gentle grace.


End file.
